November Coming Fire's imagery is dark, reminiscent of a rawer 'Avenged Sevenfold' or a metalcore band that has overdosed on the early styling of The Misfits. Vocalist Gareth issues defiant determination, amplifying that style by an exponent of ten, wailing with miserable rage, as the sounds radiate with the group's uncontrollable evil vibrations.

A haunting wave of death drone designed to devour permeates the album. 'Transgression' issues hails with tortured allegiance. Upfront razor edged riffs tear and slash at musical flesh. Tension boils. An essence of classic hardcore seethes during the Dwarves like 'The Boys With Nails'. speeding through the darkness with 'Near Death' as Ross Bones destroys drum heads. This record is bleakly bitter.

November Coming Fire's beauty lies in their purity, their singular purpose to make you move, remember and become part of what they are.

The opening track 'Transgression' has now become a cult classic with it's howling mantra-like intro 'In darkness we stand, divided we fall'. Embace the Coming Fire.

Intense mini album from UKHC ones-to-watch.
If Canterbury hardcore can get converge playing a scout hut, it's no surprise that November Coming Fire one of their 'scene' bands, should debut so strongly. This is an explosion, laced with atmiospherics to make it absorbing despite its brevity. They threaten to veer violently out of control. saved by a precision malevolence not heard since Give Up The Ghost's 'Down Till We're Underground'. Their first full length will be awesome.

Metal Hammer 8/10

Promising mini-album from Brit goth metallers.
Proof, if proof were needed that there's more to UKHC than Stampin Ground, 'Black Ballads' is one hell of an impressive debut offering from Kent's November Coming Fire. Drawing influences from AFI, The Misfits and Botch, the quintet, named after Samhain's seminal third record, have soaked up the sounds of their mentors and spat out a spiteful, jagged mini album that more then holds it's own. Kicking off with some shameless retro chanting ("In darkness we stand, divided we fall"), each track screams and scythes its way through a broken glass wasteland of brooding anger. Singer Gareth Evans vents his spleen in spectacular fashion pm 'The Boys With Nails...' and, in particular, 'Blackest Blood', with its cheery 'we're all fucking dead' conclusion. Rest assured, the future of UKHC is in safe hands.

Terrorizer 8/10

Although they hail from Ashford in Kent. November Coming Fire's spititual home is amongst Canterbury's blossoming underground hardcore scene; a diverse, hardworking band community that sees the likes of metalcore troupe Jairus and emo types One Time Champion united by a DIY musical ethos. The fact that NCF have supported the likes of Converge, Terror and Give Up The Ghost might be suggestive of the quintet's level of musical ferocity, but 'Black Ballads' is more than a mere noise laden hardcore record. Sure the six tracks on offer here are pulverising and vastly heavy., but it's the bands attention to atmosphere and dynamics that make them a truly pleasurable listen. The riffs flow hard and fast, but with much care paid to variation and unpredictable twists in the structure, 'Black Ballads' is an exciting promise of even greater things to come.

Rocksound 8/10

As the chants of opening track 'Transgression' ring through your ears, the undeniable nod to AFI's 'Strength Through Wounding' is disturbingly similar. You contemplate briefly that this might be a talentless copycat band and that the next 18 minutes of your life will be wasted on a jaunt through their debut release. But as the goth punk intro melts into a bowel loosening mix of old school mosh and go, metal riffs and classic' core licks, the head nods and the frown turns to a smile, and you realise these cherubs have got some almighty balls on them. Not only have they named themselves after a Samhain album, but they have also decided to try and combine a range of influences that span from Nerve Agents-esque Bay Area punk rock to the noisy styles of Both and Converge, Cheeky bastards. More aggravating still is that they may have pulled it off; each of the six songs on this release demonstrates a slightly different aspect of the musical lexicon from which they draw, but standing above the rest is 'Loves Young Nightmare', which rips like American Nightmare and sears right through your earlobe.